In the cargo restraint arts, a substantial array of devices have been devised to prevent cargo from moving inside a vehicle during transport. These devices are constructed and arranged within the vehicle and about the cargo to substantially prevent lateral, longitudinal, and off-axis movement. This prevents shifting cargo from damaging itself, the transport vehicle and other vehicles, public and private property, and people (should the cargo escape or cause the transport vehicle to become uncontrollable).
Some typical prior art cargo restrain devices include:
Inventor U.S. Pat. No. Watters 2,971,797 Foster 2,973,934 Rogers 4,236,854 Barnes 4,343,578 Bartkus 4,772,165 Shannon 5,028,185 Wayne 5,265,993 Wallen 5,472,301
These prior art cargo restraint devices consist of rods or panels that attach to or abut the walls of the transport vehicle. The rods or panels generally contact opposing sides of the cargo and thereby restrain the cargo to movement parallel to the rods or panels. Cross-rod and cross-panel members are generally attached perpendicular to the rods and panels, contact the cargo on opposing sides, and thereby restrain the cargo from movement parallel to the cross-rods and cross-panels. One variation on this approach, taught by Shannon in U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,185, is to use one cross-rod or cross-panel member to contact one side of the cargo and use a wall to restrain the opposing side. Again, in conjunction with the rods or panels the cargo is restrained from moving in the lateral, longitudinal, or off-axis direction.
The prior art approaches have several drawbacks. Some devices come into contact with the cargo over a very narrow range of height. This tends to restrict the cargo being restrained to a single unit, as opposed to restraining several like units of cargo stacked on top of one another. Some devices only restrict longitudinal movement with rods or panels and depend on friction or other means for restraining cargo in the lateral direction. These devices can result in the type of damage described above or lead to the use of unreliable means to restrain the cargo. Furthermore, the prior art cargo restraints are self-contained and do not take advantage of existing laterally extending load lock devices that simply and easily restrain cargo in the longitudinal direction. Such load lock devices are typified by the devices disclosed by Barnes in U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,578 and Wallen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,301. Such lateral extending members simply need an effective device that easily attaches to the load lock to prevent movement in the lateral direction.
Accordingly, a need exists for an apparatus and method that restrains cargo laterally with greater versatility, effectiveness, and simplicity than the prior art.